PUBG Launches its Lite Version in Thailand

About PUBG

In 2017, the online multi-player industry was revolutionized when Brendan Greene and Chang Han Kim launched their game PUBG (PlayerUnderground’s Battlegrounds), published under the name PUBG Corporation. The game was based on the mods created by Greene for other games such as DayZ: Battle Royale a mod based on a Japanese film with the same name.

Brendon Greene

Chang Han Kim

The game was targeted towards the hard-core gaming population to provide them with an authentic experience of an online multi-player game which involved not only free-roam within the game but also required strategic planning by players in order to eventually win. The game play of Battlegrounds is arranged in a variety of game modes, like solo, duo, squad, etc. Each game mode is matched independently (For example, Duos cannot be matched with Solo queue). These game modes consist of 1st person & 3rd person (w/ 1st person optional) servers.

Though the game looked simple, a lot
of hard-work went in to developing the game. The reasons behind the success of
PUBG was not only the idea and inspiration which fueled the project, but also
the dedication of the employees at Bluehole who voluntarily put in longer
working hours for the project. Thus, March 2017 marked the release of the early
access of PUBG, and the craze took over the world.

PUBG Craze in India

When
it comes to gaming, India is not viewed as the primary preference that comes to
a gaming company’s mind. Yet, not even a year has passed and it would seem as
if the PUBG rage has started a fire, which here to engulf the gaming world.

According to POKKT, a leading mobile video
advertising platform, more than 222 million active gamers have been spending an
average of 42 minutes playing mobile games every day over five sessions in
India as of 2017. The numbers are only growing and one of the biggest
contributors in recent months has been PUBG Mobile. PlayerUnknown
Battlegrounds, which is originally a PC and console game, was launched on the
mobile platform in March 2018. Within one year, the game has managed to gain
such a massive user base that even PM Modi mentioned it in his speech,
commenting on how the game is distracting kids from academics. How did it
manage to do so?

Battle
Royale is a fresh concept which was introduced to the Indian market. Taking
advantage of this situation, Tencent Games heavily marketed the game both on
iOS and Android, ensuring that its game was available for all. The swift
actions taken by the mobile gaming company grasped the attention of the young gamers,
and rookies, thereby further strengthening its position. When Epic Games tried
to disrupt it by launching its own version of the game called Fortnite, PUBG
managed to hold its ground, partly because it was available on all platforms,
unlike Fortnite which caters to only iOS users. The company also ensured that
the players continued to play the game by updating the game and adding new
contents to the already popular modes of the game.

Introduction of PUBG Lite in
Thailand

Tencent Games
is the world’s largest gaming company , one of the world’s most valuable
technology conglomerates, one of the world’s largest social media companies,
and one of the world’s largest venture capital firms and investment corporations.
The company surpassed the market value of US$500 billion in 2018, becoming the
first Asian technology company to cross the valuation mark. It has since then
emerged as one of Asia’s most valuable companies, and among the world’s top
technology companies by market value. As of 2018, Tencent has the 5th highest
global brand value. The company is mostly famous for launching games such as
Dungeon Fighter Online, QQ fantasy Honor of Kings. It also holds part rights to
Battle Royale games such as PUBG, for which it has developed a special Android emulator,
to provide more comfort in the gaming experience.

PUBG Corp. has begun the
testing of the lite version of its app in Thailand. The company wishes to
launch, in the near future, a stripped -down version of its game, which can be
played on any mobile or P.C with low-end hardware specifications. While the
normal version of the game functions properly, it drains a lot of battery, and
requires a certain hardware specification, which is not available to every
consumer in the market. With the beta launching of its game, the company also
hopes that it could rival Fortnite, which requires lower hard-ware settings and
doesn’t require any upfront costs. As
one might expect, PUBG Lite doesn’t quite match up to the original version. The
game features just one map, Erangel, and is also limited in game modes. It will
operate as a standalone version of the game, separate from the classic PUBG.
The developers are promising that the free version of the game will get its own
exclusive content, including maps.

Author’s Take

Like
every natural lifeline of a game I feel PUBG too will face a time when the
craze of a game will start to fade away. Irrespective of the company’s best
efforts to keep users fixated to the game many are realizing that game now has
spurred into an addiction leading to severe harm on studies as well as social
interaction. At a day and age where social interactions are less and more tie
is spent on playing video than physical games, the craze of PUBG further sealed
the notion that video games do more harm than good. I personally believe that a
balance must be created between video games, physical games and studies to
ensure the overall development of the upcoming and present generations.